Hometown heroes

March might be the best
month for Boulder moviegoers. From the smattering of archival prints unspooling
at CU-Boulder’s International Film Series to the delightfully bizarre and
thought-provoking images beaming from the Brakhage Center Symposium (March 14-15).
From regional premieres and climate-minded documentaries at the Boulder
International Film Festival (March 5-8) to the always-popular and equally
international Boulder Jewish Film Festival (March 4-15).

And the eighth Boulder
Jewish Film Festival (BJFF) kicks off with a celebration of a hometown hero:
Dave Grusin. Born June 26, 1934, in Littleton, Colorado, Grusin studied music
at CU-Boulder, graduating in 1956 before heading off to Hollywood and an
award-winning career as composer and songwriter. His most notable contribution
will probably always be his work on 1967’s The Graduate, but it was
his score for 1988’s The Milagro Beanfield that finally netted him an
Oscar.

Grusin has always had a
close connection with Boulder — including appearances at the Conference on
World Affairs, notably as a dueling pianist against brother Don Grusin — so
it’s only fitting BJFF kicks off March 4 with Dave Grusin: Not Enough Time,
a loving documentary directed by Barbara Bentree, herself an alumna of
CU-Boulder’s College of Music. Bentree will be in person for the opening night
festivities.

Both BJFF screenings of Not
Enough Time are currently sold out (check thedairy.org should
additional seats open or shows added), but, considering the close ties between
Bentree and Grusin to the city, there will be plenty of opportunities to catch
the doc in the future.

That’s not necessarily
the case with the rest of BJFF’s slate. For many of the movies screened, BJFF
is the only time audiences will have a chance to see them on the theater
screen, if at all.

Not sure where to start?
Try something humorous: BJFF offers several options. Born in Jerusalem
and Still Alive won Best Film at the 2019 Jerusalem Film Festival
for writer/director/actor Yossi Atia’s light-hearted look at the effects of
daily trauma on the Israeli psyche. Also in the comedy vein: Holy
Lands stars James Caan as Harry, a grumpy old man who decides to
retire to Israel and start a pig farm.

Like many of the films
playing BJFF, the above are concerned primarily with Jewish identity. As is The
Spy Behind Home Plate — the almost unbelievable story of Moe Berg, a
major league catcher during baseball’s Golden Age (the 1920s and ’30s) who was
an OSS spy during World War II, and helped undermine Germany’s efforts to
develop and build an atomic bomb. (Should the documentary pique your interest,
Paul Rudd played Berg in the 2018 drama, The Catcher Was a Spy.)

More than 15 features and two short film packages will screen at this year’s BJFF, all of them at Dairy Arts Center. Like previous BJFFs, there will be conversations, talkbacks and various receptions throughout the festival. And, like previous BJFFs, screenings will sell out fast. For a full schedule, tickets and information, visit thedairy.org.